Densen for Metrocs

Next month sees the launch of Densen - our new design for Metrocs. Based in Tokyo, Metrocs is the creation of Yuji Shimotsubo - a self-confessed enthusiast of midcentury Japanese and European design. We have worked with them over the last few years, culminating this season with Densen - our first exclusive collaborative project with Metrocs.

Densen is the Japanese term for the overhead electrical cabling which is common throughout the country. Although seen as cluttered and messy by some, for me it has a functional beauty of its own. The intervals and repeats of the crossing lines form instant window-checks against a grey Kyoto sky below. I particularly like the intersections and insulators - silhouetted points of connection.

The drawing below shows a scale plan of the Densen pattern. Bottom right of the board is the blanket and above this is a series of different cushion shapes. Densen is a non-repeating warp pattern of vertical lines, which intersect with a large scale weft repeat alternating between single and triple lines. Small blocks appear at alternate crossing points - referencing the connection points above.

Densen is a reversible design, with the plum and the silver faces acting as the positive and negative of each other. Across the ground of the fabric are little woven ‘stitches’ where the two layres interlock. The effect is a little like quilting - and owes something to the casting marks commonly found in concrete buildings.

The images below are both from the wonderful Tadao Ando ‘Church of the Light’ in Osaka and you can clearly see the beautiful effect of the casting marks in this iconic space.

I am very pleased with the Densen design, and am very much looking forward to my forthcoming visit to Tokyo for the launch of the project. It will be wonderful to return to this beautiful country!

For more details about Metrocs please see the link here.